


Vio Alone

by Kaenith



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords
Genre: Gen, archived from hauntinghyrule.tumblr.com, because I'm me - what did you expect?, but it's really no more shippy than the canon version, canon scene re-write, cross-posted from tumblr, hints of Vio/Shadow, take that as you will
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-09-11 22:47:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16861555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaenith/pseuds/Kaenith
Summary: The Links have been swept over a waterfall, caught up in a magic whirlwind, and scattered across Hyrule.  Without his teammates for backup, Vio must face the Dark Woods alone.(Prose re-write of Vio's scene in Chapter 4 of the Four Swords manga.  Originally posted on Tumblr in January of 2015, uploading to AO3 for safekeeping.)





	Vio Alone

Pine trees towered overhead, their branches lacing together until it was impossible to tell where one ended and another began. Under their shade, the air was cool and getting colder as the day went on, the scent of sap giving it a keen edge.

The forest was quiet in the way of deep wilderness when presented with an intruder. The smaller animals peered out of their hiding places, watching in wide-eyed silence as Vio hacked his way through the underbrush. His Four Sword swung in wide arcs, a flash of bright metal against the muted greens and browns. Not exactly the best tool for path-clearing, but, well. Desperate times.

He’d lost most of his supplies when he’d been separated him from the other Links. He had his bow and quiver, but half of the arrows were gone. The food and water were also missing. They were probably still tucked under the back seat of the canoe, but that didn’t do Vio much good, since he hadn’t been able to find that, either. He didn’t even know if he was heading in the right direction, as Green had been carrying the map when they were separated.

Bad as it would be to find he’d wasted time going the wrong way, the matches were the most troubling loss. Night was falling rapidly, and without a light source he would have no way of keeping Shadow Link at bay, if the doppelganger were to appear.

Vio stopped to catch his breath, leaning on his sword hilt. To be honest, he didn’t much like his chances alone at night against even the lower-ranking monsters. He’d spent the better part of the day fighting his way through brambles, some of which had turned out to be alive and temperamental. He’d had an encounter with an octorok earlier, and the mark on his shoulder where it had launched a rock at him was definitely going to bruise. His arms and legs ached. His hands stung with tiny cuts from the foliage. Despite all that, he didn’t doubt his ability to continue defeating any monster that came at him. He was a knight, after all, a hero – or a quarter of one, at least. He could take care of himself.

The real issue was that he’d need to sleep soon. His eyelids drooped, and fatigue dragged at his limbs. But without the other Links, there was no way to set up a continuous watch through the night. He’d be defenseless, with no one to guard his back as he slept.

A grim line formed between his eyebrows. His options were limited. He’d just have to find a defensible place and hope for the best. Not here, though – he could hear water ahead, and his dry throat was crying out for a drink before he stopped for the night.

It took real effort to get moving again, his feet leaden and disinclined to continue. Progress was halted almost as soon as it began when the latest swing of his sword disrupted a squad of deku scrubs. The plant-like creatures went scurrying in every direction with a flurry of affronted “ _pi!”_ s, the tops of their leafy crests brushing past Vio’s elbows. He braced himself for another fight, but the dekus made no motion to attack.

“Be quiet!” scolded one of the dekus, as the others peeped in agreement. “All that crashing about and swinging a sword is no way to show respect for our master!”

“Master?” asked Vio, “You mean the sorcerer, Gufuu?”

More _pi_ s, this time in a confused tone. “Who’s Gufuu? We serve Lord Ganon. Pi!”

The dekus began to waddle away, blending back into the underbrush. “Wait!” called Vio, but they were already gone.

“Ganon?” He mused aloud. “That’s an ancestral name of the Gerudo tribe. But they live in the desert! What have they got to do with a bunch of forest-dwelling deku scrubs?” He turned to continue on, toward the sound of water. “I need to tell the others about this.”

“Are you sure?”

Vio’s head jerked upward at the sound of the voice. A figure was perched in the branches above his head, a familiar silhouette against the moonlight.

“Shadow Link,” Vio’s eyes narrowed and he dropped into a fighting stance, his Four Sword held in front of him.

The shadow pushed away from the tree, landing on the ground as soundlessly as a cat. He brushed pine needles from his tunic as he straightened.

“Tsk, tsk, is that really necessary?” Shadow Link approached at a casual stroll, betraying no concern for the sword aimed at him. “I only want to talk.”

“And you can talk just fine from where you are,” Vio said curtly. “Don’t come any closer.”

The shadow gave an exaggerated sigh, but he did stop. He brought his hands up, open palms facing Vio. Unarmed. Not that it made so much of a difference, considering his dark powers. Vio’s hands, on his sword hilt, felt clammy. He wanted to adjust his grip, but he didn’t dare shift his focus away from the shadow for even an instant.

“All I’m saying is, would the other Links even realize the significance of what the deku scrubs said? I mean, they’re not exactly the sharpest bunch, are they?” Shadow Link said it with a conspiratorial tilt of his head, like they were sharing a private joke.

“I don’t know how you stand it,” he continued. “All their whining and bickering. They don’t respect you. They don’t listen to you. I’d _never_ treat an ally like that.” He started approaching again, moving slowly, with his hands still raised, as though trying not to spook a flighty animal.

“I will not fall for your tricks!” It came out sharper than Vio had intended, almost a bark. 

“No tricks, I promise.” The shadow was within range of Vio’s sword, now, but he brushed it aside with the back of his hand, not even looking at it. Vio let him. His hands were shaking, and he wondered if Shadow Link noticed. If he did, he gave no indication. His red eyes met Vio’s gaze steadily, the faintest hint of a smile at the corners of his lips.

“The fact is,” Shadow Link placed a hand on Vio’s shoulder, and Vio flinched but didn’t pull away. “We would make a good team. We understand each other, you and I.”

“I don’t…” the sentence caught in Vio’s throat and he couldn’t continue. A feeling of dread lurked like a riptide, threatening to pull him under at the slightest misstep.

“C’mon. You’re the smart one. Smarter than the rest of them put together. You know I’m telling the truth.” The shadow crept closer still, draped an arm across Vio’s shoulders. His touch was warm, and that threw Vio – although he hadn’t thought of it before, he would have expected Shadow Link to be as cold as the darkness that gave him his name.

Vio’s hands were still trembling, shaking all the way from shoulder to sword-tip. The world seemed unstable around him, mutable. Possible futures spiraled outward, countless infinities of tiny decisions that could change everything, for better or for worse. A cloud of butterflies and hurricanes. And through them, the path of clarity - narrow as the flight of an arrow, but just as true.

Vio unclenched his fingers, the firing of a bow. His sword fell to the mossy ground with a _thud_ , the soft sound disproportionate to its significance.

“You’re right,” Vio breathed, so quietly that if the shadow hadn’t been standing so close, he might not have heard it. The world was righting itself again, narrowing back into focus. “Trying to work with those three was a waste of my time, anyway.”


End file.
